Sidewalk Superheroes

Well! I guess I could have posted this earlier in the day. But YouTube decided to just keep me hanging and not tell me that it actually uploaded, hours and hours and hours ago. Thank you, YouTube. Anyway! Batgirl and I made our first video on Monday. We’ve got more on the way, don’t worry. So enjoy your first dose of The Adventures of Catwoman and Batgirl! Photos to follow shortly….

Yesterday was a looooong day. Unfortunately, it was also crap financially, but we’ll talk more about that later. Catwoman has my memory card and all my pictures from the day, and I’d rather wait and post with pictures. If you’re going to have all that text and information to process, there might as well be some eye candy to break the monotony.

Instead, since we’re taking the day off and I have my other memory card back from Monday’s work, here’s the two pictures I managed to snap off. I could have sworn I took more than that, but I guess not. I guess I was too busy filming. Anyway, Monday was the first day we saw the Italian Stallions, a new trio of store bought superheroes who hang out on the east end of the block:

the Italian Stallions

We walked past them a few times when business was slow and we were wandering around, looking for any hot spots. They never said anything, though, and would just watch us walk past, which was a little strange. Yesterday Iron Man briefly hung around us in front of the Chinese Theatre, and while he openly stared at our bottoms right in front of us, he only muttered something neither of us could hear and walked off. It was only later on in the day, when we walked right up to them, that they finally said hi. I had told Catwoman I had the feeling they were Italian, and once they started talking, I was proved right. I asked how long they had been there, and Captain America said, “Four years.” It was only after some more broken English that he got around to saying that they’d come to America about four years ago and they had only been doing the boulevard since the beginning of the week. Since their English wasn’t all that great, and they were still so new, I decided not to warn them about the rappers yet. They seemed to keep to themselves pretty well anyway, and I don’t think any rappers work that area of the Walk, so hopefully they’ll be safe. We’ll keep an eye on them.

Also from Monday, when I was walking to the costume shop:

a very Hubbard Christmas!

The Scientology building is pretty easy to spot, from the giant white and green sign to the papered over front doors and windows and the giant security camera. Next to it is an empty lot, and I’ve noticed this Christmas get-up since we first started working the boulevard. What I didn’t notice, however, was that it was a Scientology Christmas. Great, so kids sit on Santa’s lap and he gives them a free e-meter reading? I know that religion, cult, whatever, is getting a lot of grief, especially here in LA and in San Francisco (I may have known about a protest against the SF headquarters in advance, and may have almost participated, but it was on the same day and time as the Brides of March and I was already booked), and while I understand and even agree with some of the points protesters are making, I think that there are better ways of getting your point across. I have the same problem with PETA. Anyway, it just rubbed me as wrong, this whole thing. Should Scientologists celebrate Christmas? I know the gist of the holiday was stolen from pagan traditions, as was Easter, so Christians can’t claim it all as their own, but I guess I was just working under the impression that different religions wouldn’t partake in Christmas because they had their own things going. If anything, I would have expected a giant papier-mâché volcano with vinegar and baking soda lava, and free photos with Xenu. It just strikes me as underhanded, is all. Yes, I expect to get flamed over this, but ask anyone and they’ll tell you I’m an equal opportunity sacrilicious lady. I mean, I made Jesus jokes straight at the guy.

Since I had to delay publishing this because Flickr was being a jerk and not letting me upload earlier, I can share my newest acquisition:

these boots were made for beatin'

Finally! These actually came ridiculously fast, too. I ordered them a few hours after my catsuit, and they’re already here. See, leaving positive feedback and being a repeat customer does pay off.

It was good to be back! And yet…. three weeks away made such a difference. I mean… I expected to see the same people there, hang out with our favourite characters… and it was empty. Just empty. I believe I saw 6 other characters throughout the day. It was very weird.

Today (or, yesterday, really.) was the day we started taking video, as well, so you’re going to be treated to a video guide to a day in the lives of Catwoman and Batgirl later on this week. Just doing the editing. It would be so much easier if someone else was holding the camera though, on the boulevard.

I’ve been spending my free moments on the computer and in the car, trying to come up with a clever domain name to put this blog on. We want to make business cards (just in case. They’re cheap, anyway.) with the blog on it, but I’d rather have a real domain name than hhheroes.wordpress.com. If anyone is actually reading this, please, put forth your suggestions in ye olde comment box below. Try to make sure that any domains you suggest are actually available first though (try www.eurodns.com. You can do a bulk search).

I’ll try to post some photos next time. 😀

Oh, today. *sigh* Today was Catwoman’s first day back, and my first in a while. I was supposed to go in this weekend and get the last few days of the big crowds and (ideally) big money, but it was overcast and cold and my Padmé costume is pretty much toast. She had a good run for a one-time wear cheapo store bought costume, and earned her money back and then some, but the time has come to make a real Padmé costume — it’ll be so cool, just wait — and put the old one out to pasture.

But I digress. We have plans. We started doing new things today. I learned that those Snap & Go curlers are indeed crap, and both of us may have texted each other about the new No Texting While Driving law while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. I’m choosing to go with the fifth amendment to keep from incriminating myself.
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Firstly, I’d like to say hello to all the people who have Googled “people in Padmé costumes having sex.” Welcome. Also, I’m sorry to disappoint, but there is no costumed sex going on here, either in my Padmé costume or in anyone else’s. Well, at least as far as I know and am concerned.

Moving right along . . . Bat A and I had a good long phone conversation last night, and while it was a great talk, I’m only going to share the backstory bits. The rest is private and will stay that way, ’cause you don’t really need to know it. So there. And here, finally, is the history of the boulevard, and how the violence started.

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Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to start out with the sad news. Bat A wrote me this morning through MySpace and said that he’s leaving for who knows how long. He’d mentioned before that he would have to go back to the motherland for a bit, but it sounds like the visit was extended and pushed forward, because things are just getting too ugly down here. It was a very sweet letter, especially considering the fact that he’s found this blog (hello, dear!), and it made me sad in a very bittersweet way. While I thought he was just being cranky or maybe avoiding me, being silly and egocentric, he’s apparently been going through a lot behind the scenes, so I’d just like to say that all the cranky bits I’d written in the past are moot and he will always and forever be my Batman. I’m sorry we won’t be able to work together, but I’m so happy we had the time on the boulevard that we did, that I met him, and that we’ll hopefully keep in touch while he gets a much needed break. I’ll miss him terribly.
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I really have to be more careful when typing. When I was uploading new pictures to Flickr just now, twice I typed in this blog’s address as hhherpes.wordpress.com. Um. That must be Paris Hilton’s blog. Just a warning to those of you who think that one letter can’t make that big a difference.

So today was another busy day, though time seemed to move slower today. I did better financially for nearly the same amount of time, but we had more down time and more people trying to stiff us today. Vader lost his temper again and refused to pose for a photo until people had paid up, because too many people would say, “Okay, I know how it works” impatiently before the photos, then pretend to not know English or think one dollar would suffice for four people. Right. Be careful, if you’re thinking of stiffing any masked character, folks. They have mouths and they talk some mean shit, and you can’t even hear because of the masks — but everyone else can. Also, some of us will follow at a discreet distance and warn other characters that you’re a deadbeat so you don’t scam anyone else. Okay, I do that when I can. So don’t think you’re clever and you’ve found a new way to scam people, we know it all. Most of the time we just let you get away with it while calling you retarded or an asshat, just so you know. You’re not smart, but we’ll let you keep thinking you are.
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And today it’s a New Pornographers reference. Don’t worry, the music references will always be relevant to the conversation. Just consider it a free guide to great bands, in addition to the usual entertainment. 🙂

So, today. Today was clear and bright, and the winds that pushed the last storm away from us had finally died down, and it’s supposed to get to the mid-60s now, so I doped up on Sudafed — it’s expired, but it seems to still be okay — and headed out. I didn’t much feel like going, more out of laziness than anything, though my family had been a little worried since they heard about Freddie’s beatdown, but I’m glad I did. It was packed, so much so that I couldn’t really get pictures of anything because the crowds obscured everything. Everything, that is, but this:

tickets to Vader's gun show

Sorry, I’m listening to Pulp right now, and my music tends to influence my writings. Anyway, I’m supposed to be working right now, but I made the mistake of letting my toddler nephew stick his dirty fingers in my mouth Christmas Eve, and I’ve been fighting off some sort of illness ever since. While I took some Emergen-C yesterday morning when I got up to cook the turkey I didn’t eat (I’m a veggiesaurus), it’s still lingering and standing on a very windy street corner all day wouldn’t be the brightest thing I’ve ever done. So here I am, hanging new Audrey Hepburn posters, wearing new coats, and listening to new iPods. 🙂
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Well, yeah, I know the answer to that. Anyway, what do I do when I’m missing L.A.? I browse YouTube. And look what I found! A little documentary dealing with the arrests of Elmo and the other guys last year. It’s in three parts. I like getting to know my co-workers better. It’s a strange way of doing your homework, rather than just by talking with people, but boy, I’m getting so caught up on all that’s gone on (and is still going on) on the boulevard. If you’re interested, here’s the first piece of the documentary.

Let’s see… oh, yes, what prompted this search? I was actually looking for recent videos. I was alerted by Captain Jack that Freddy was ganged up on by some people, who filmed it supposedly, to post online on Youtube for entertainment? Who knows for sure. But something did happen. And that’s just not cool. Ganging up on someone who’s in a mask and just trying to earn a living… and of course if we do anything, I guarantee that we’d be the ones thrust in the back of a cop car. But if I ever see that going on, someone is going to get whipped. That’ll probably scare them off. lol. Anyway… hm. That’s my update today. Merry Christmas!